I’ve got a gift exchange coming up for my writers group. Budget is no more than $20.
Now I’ve seen a lot of kitschy writer shit, corny quote plaques and "Don’t mess with the writer!’’ t-shirts and that sort of thing, but I want to get something for my friend that is actually useful or interesting. Something unique, or genuinely inspiring, or that serves a concrete function.
Can’t be a book, cuz we’re already also doing a book exchange.
If you have any recommendation that costs more than $20, please post it anyway, because if it’s cool enough, I’ll probably buy it for myself.
Fountain pen? Obviously they can run much more than $20, but I had cheap ones as a teenager/college student and they were still plenty cool. I know most folks write on a computer nowadays, but I gotta think that anyone who writes would appreciate a nice pen more than a kitschy t-shirt or plaque.
As the romance writer it would probably be a memorable gift coming from me. And most of our gatherings consist of dick jokes at pretty much every opportunity.
If money is no object (maybe some kind of group pool?), this is your baby. Gotta stop that writer’s butt. Well, I do. Just in case, hypothetically, there happened to be fear of writer’s butt. This.
Warm, fuzzy, cuddly goodness for those long, dark, lonely nights. SNUGGIE.
Back massager, with heat. Wants this. (It’s more than $20.)
Writer’s Toolkit. I used to put together a fun set of unique items that I used while working through drafts or source materials. Example of type of thing included. Page flags, fun pens, pencils, note cards or note pads, highlighters (erasable), erasers, quirky paper clips, whatever else seems helpful. I put it all in a pencil case, or a zipper case, and carry it with me.
I know OP said “no books”, but I would go for it: a textbook, “how to write” stuff. A good one. No smart writer would get offended. Book focusing on short stories, or a novel, depending what a writer is planning to do next.
Other than that: a cheap Dictaphone/portable recorder.
Craft books aren’t a bad idea, but we do read and discuss and swap them a lot. We’re already doing a book exchange, something off our own bookshelf to pass along.
It’s invaluable to me. So during our last group, we were critting a work of detective fiction… Our resident craft master is pontificating on the protag and says, “You know, we just don’t have a hardened dick here.”
I tried to hold it back, I really did, but I made eye contact with one of the other members and I just lost it. The protag was henceforth referred to as “flaccid.”
I have one of these typewriter keys bracelets I received as a gift and at least one other author told me she has one as well. These are outside your price limits but this is not the only place that sells them.
